Bob Owens

25 deep

Written By: Bob
-
Mar•
08•13

Nearly sold-out gun shop (not the one written about).

I took my daughter to preschool this morning, and on the way back I drove past my local neighborhood gun store.

The owner was standing out front talking to the first customer in line as the clerks inside finished setting up for the daily rush. They would open promptly at 9:00 AM. The speed limit is just 25 MPH in that part of town, and I caught a red light as well, so I had plenty of time to count the number of people in line.

There were 25 souls patiently queued up from the front door down the sidewalk into the parking lot. This is the new normal, and has been for months. Sometimes the line is shorter, sometimes it is longer, and on days that it is cold and rainy, people sit in their vehicles until the store opens, but there is always a line.

I drop in every few weeks or so. Some of the more senior clerks there know my face if they can’t recall my name; this is the FFL (federal firearms licensee) that I most often used when a manufacturer transfers in a rifle or pistol for me to test and evaluate. I haven’t been inside in two weeks, but the last time I was there was the same as it has been from mid-January onward.

There are no AR-15s, no AK-pattern rifles, no M1As, no FALs, nor anything else that might reasonably impersonate a semi-automatic rifle. For that matter, there are no Garands worth their price, nor Enfields, nor Mosins.

Likewise, the glass handgun cases have largely been empties of service pistols. There are still a few, but most tend to be painfully expensive or the dogs that no one wants. Magazines for all of these are gone, of course, as are most common calibers of ammunition.

How much longer will this go on?

That seems to be the million dollar question, and I’m not going to pretend I have an answer. Many are pretending that they know, but if people continue to buy firearms in multiples, magazines by the case, and ammunition by the pallet, we simply can’t predict how long the run will last.

In my estimation, this is the most heavily-armed the American people have ever been. I’m including the World Wars. Even then, the guns and ammo were going to military units deploying overseas, not going towards suburban stockpiles, and under freshly turned earth in hidden caches.

Nor have Americans ever been better trained to wage a war, specifically an insurgency. More than a decade of warfare in Asia and Africa have left us with large numbers of highly-trained veterans of wars without front lines, many of them well-trained in how guerrillas organize and fight, and of course, in counter-insurgency tactics.

All of this is happening as the radical left wing of the Democratic party is working its media assets in national and local media to wage a propaganda war against the Constitution. They think they will get away with it, since far too many dim souls are willing to give up their freedom for the illusion of safety, despite the Founder’s constant warnings against tyranny. Are they mistaken? I think so.

Far too many read the writing on the wall in similar ways. As long as they do, the lines will continue until there is no need to buy firearms, or until it is time to use them.

I had a red hat email me today asking if I had any spare .22lr. There’s an Appleseed next weekend and some of the folks haven’t been able to find ammo. Yes, I bought a case (5K) last November. Yes, I am willing to share (donations graciously accepted), but I think I am going to ask the folks to only use what they need for the class so I will have some to share at the next Appleseed.

Hm, no M1A’s? Looks like one in the center of the pic. Seriously though. I havent seen 22lr in weeks, all fmj are gone, only high priced exotic ammo is left in small quantities, magazines dont exist except for gun shows, reloading supplies are drying up rapidly including bullets, virgin brass doesnt exist, primers dont but I got lucky, local shop had ordered some way back and just put on display when I walked in. presses are selling for double, dies are almost gone, not that you can find much to reload, but you do have a better chance. I could go on, but you get the pic.

:-) Ah, you do read these. thanks. No problem, as all pics of gun shops walls are really the same now. I live outside Savannah,Ga and the gun shop near me actually had got in about 20 DPMS 308s along with the primers. Shocked me. No AR15’s though. Ammo pretty well gone. Had picked up about 100 tracers in 308, but those dried up also. Bass pro actually had 4 bags of .223 virgin brass hidden/pushed in back of shelf that I found, grabbed one for myself and left other 3 for to brighten someones day. If I cant buy, then I’ll at least try to make.

I’ve said it before but it bears repeating, Those who would steal our rights doubt our courage of conviction because they possess none. It’s quite possibly a fatal under-estimation on their part.
Despite the propaganda being pushed by our national media outlets, I believe WE the People are in the majority.
No matter what happens, remember, we’ll NEVER be any stronger than we are right now if we allow this agenda to progress.

My wife and I tried to get into the Del Mar show this morning – it was jammed – absolutely no handicap parking spots available, and a line going half way around the parking lot for the ticket booth. The online ticket site was down as well – we gave up, try again in May, but only if we can get tickets prior to event.

What we have here is a classic market bubble. And like all bubbles, it will pop. A year from now, if that long, there are going to be some really good buys in the “Not new but hardly ever fired” gun market.